healthnotes
Airmen Commit to Dots F
or nearly every sexual assault on the books, there’s a bystander who looked
away, a family member who saw an unhealthy relationship, or a friend who should have called a cab. That’s the premise of the Green Dot Initiative, a prevention program the Air Force is implementing over three years to help lower its incidence of sexual assault and other violence. Through the program, airmen learn to direct (intervene), delegate (let others know), or distract (make a scene or change the subject) when they are bystanders to a situation that bristles their personal values. In the program, these actions are known as “green dots.” “Once you let people know that
any of these options are good op- tions, people get incredibly creative in what they do,” says Dr. Dorothy J. Edwards, who holds a Ph.D. in counseling and is the executive di- rector of the Green Dot Etc. Along with intervention strate-
gies, airmen learn to reset norms in their communities and stand up — in conversations, on social media, and in other venues — to say sexual assault is not acceptable. Anecdotal evidence suggests the
program is having a positive effect, and approximately 75 percent of par- ticipants say they’re more likely to intervene as a result of the training. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention names the Green Dot as one of four promising programs that is not perpetrator-focused. For more information on the
Green Dot program, visit www
.livethegreendot.com.
— Willow Nero
online: Hear from an airman who “did a green dot,” possibly saving a life in the process at
http://bit.ly/2bzy0SS. 24 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2016
15% 10% 5% 1.6 0% 0 1 3 YEARS According to a study from Utah State University
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, male veterans with a history of MST are at a higher risk of post-deployment homelessness than those who did not meet the criteria for MST.
The study included 601,892 veterans deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan who separated from the military between 2001-11 and subsequently used VA services.
The VA began screening veterans for MST in 2004.
PERCENT OF VETERANS WHO REPORT EXPERIENCING MST DURING THEIR MILITARY SERVICE
25% WOMEN 1% MEN SOURCE: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY; COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SERVICES 5 9.6 4.4
MST AS DEFINED BY THE VA:
“Psychological trauma, which resulted in the judgment of a mental health professional employed by the [VA, resulting] from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment, which occurred while the veteran was serving on active duty or active duty for training.”
Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Linked to Veteran Homelessness
RATE OF HOMELESSNESS
OF
OF
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